JOHANNESBURG - Clinching a quality set of silver medals in the 100m and 200m in Budapest, South African sprinting sensation Akani Simbine is showing good form in the buildup to the IAAF World Championships in London next month.
Getting a taste of what he would face in the British capital, Simbine will again line up in the short sprint in Lausanne in two days’ time.
Dipping below 10 seconds for the 14th time, Simbine displayed his world-class form just 0.01 behind former world champion Justin Gatlin of the US. Gatlin crossed the line in a time of 9.98 seconds.
Gatlin’s coutryman, Isaiah Young rounded off the podium in a time of 10.10 with former South African record-holder Henricho Bruintjies just missing out on a medal in fourth.
Simbine beat Gatlin at the start of the international season when he finished ahead of the American at the Doha Diamond League in May.
Simbine added another silver later in the evening when he finished second behind Isiah Young of the US in the 200m race.
Young raced to a season’s best of 20.14 with Simbine dipping for a time of 20.21 ahead of American Dedric Dukes in third place with 20.44.
Simbine’s season’s best time of 9.92 in the 100m is the third fastest this season.
Demonstrating why he is currently ranked as the second best long jumper this season, Ruswahl Samaai leapt to victory in a new meet record of 8.34m.
Samaai produced an impressive sequence of jumps as he landed over 8.20 metres on five of his six attempts on the evening.
The jumper will take some confidence out of his victory beating Olympic champion Jeff Henderson of the US.
Beijing Olympic silver medallist Khotso Mokoena narrowly missed out on a podium place with his best leap of 7.95m.
Samaai’s personal best of 8.49m is still the second best jump this season behind pace-setting compatriot Luvo Manyonga with his world lead of 8.65m.
South African women’s 100m record-holder Carina Horn finished in fourth in her specialist event, clocking 11.21 with Alyssa Conley finishing two places adrift with a season’s best of 11.41. Nigerian Blessing Okagbare raced to victory in a time of 11.11.
Female long jumper Lynique Prinsloo wrapped up the evening in sixth place with her 6.34m. Bringing the South African contingent’s evening to a close, middle-distance runner Jacob Romani finished the men’s 800m race in eighth position in a time of 1:47.27.